A | Canberra, Oct 11 (UNI) Two Australian men have been charged with bribing Sri Lankan officials to secure infrastructure contracts worth millions of dollars.
Australian police arrested the pair last month after a decade-long investigation spanning several countries, BBC reported.
The men, aged 67 and 71, worked for a company which has been accused of misconduct in South Asian countries, it said.
They are yet to respond to the charges and will face court.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) say the men arranged bribes of more than A$304,000 ($190,000) to government officials between 2009 and 2016.
The bribes were allegedly made in the pursuit of two Sri Lankan projects -- which police did not name -- worth A$14m.
The charges follow an investigation into SMEC International Pty Ltd, an Australian-based engineering firm, which involved authorities from the US, Canada, India and elsewhere, the BBC reported.
More arrests and charges are possible, the AFP said.
"Corruption undermines fair competition and can have disastrous consequences for developing economies, global anti-poverty and development efforts," Detective Supt Helen Schneider said.
Originally known as the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corp, SMEC was formed in 1949 to build an iconic Australian infrastructure project. It has since grown to employ 5,400 staff in many countries.
In 2017, the World Bank temporarily barred SMEC and four subsidiaries in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka from bidding for any of its contracts, the report said.
The World Bank said it had discovered evidence linking the company to suspected "inappropriate payments" in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
At the time, a spokesperson for SMEC said the allegations did not relate to any Australian projects, and that the company would continue to strengthen its corporate integrity compliance programmes.
Protests erupted in Sri Lanka this year over corruption allegations and the country's worst economic crisis in history, it said.
UNI MR。
B | 巴黎奥组委主席埃斯坦盖就该口号的内涵进行了阐释，表示这一口号旨在希望奥运会的魅力可以向所有观众领略，这也是推动巴黎奥组委前进的动力。他还指出，巴黎奥运会倒计时两周年对于巴黎奥组委是重要的时刻。根据巴黎奥组委此前公布的2024年巴黎奥运会开幕式创意方案，开幕式将突破体育场的限制，转为在塞纳河上进行。巴黎奥组委预计将有60万人能够在现场观看开幕式。埃斯坦盖表示对这一创意很自豪。开幕式创意方案被认为在很大程度上体现了巴黎奥运会口号的内涵。法国官方25日召开会议讨论巴黎奥运会筹备工作，法国总统马克龙主持会议。会议进行两个多小时，法国总理博尔内和多名部长与会。马克龙在会议开始前与埃斯坦盖交谈，在会议结束后与国际奥委会主席巴赫共进午餐。马克龙在会上表示希望法国能够举办一届令人难忘的奥运会，赛事能够涵盖全法各地。
C | 据法国RMC体育台报道，会议重点讨论了巴黎奥运会的安全保障和预算问题。巴黎奥组委当天还对外公布了巴黎奥运会赛程安排和售票工作的最新进展。2024年巴黎奥运会将于2024年7月26日开幕，8月11日闭幕。(完)
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